The Beneficial Future
by ArcherFlameConstantine
Summary: Two Hogwarts students are sucked into their mutual future when an accident occurs in Potions. Includes bits of humor and Dan Brown...
1. Chapter 1

The Beneficial Future...by Yours Truly

"**Today," Snape hovered** **about the classroom, exuding malevolence**, **"you will be brewing a complex potion known as a Future-Scrying** **Formula. It is, as I've said, exceedingly difficult, but seeing as you are my N.E.W.T. class, you should be more than capable of brewing this** **concoction** **without any injured parties.** **Instructions are on the board, along with illustrations for the benefit of those of you who cannot read. Begin!"**

**Everyone immediately partnered up. There were really only ten of them in the class, six of whom were Ravenclaws (who all paired off with one another), two of whom were in Hufflepuff (who did likewise), and only one of which were from Gryffindor or Slytherin (who were, as of yet, unpaired). Laconically**

**Thus, Hermione Granger, the brilliant Pride of Gryffindor, was left with no one to work with but none other than Draco Malfoy, the enigmatic Prince of Slytherin. She, seeing everyone else already in groups, glanced over to where he was sitting in the far corner of the room. Meeting her gaze, he raised his eyebrows. She looked at him beseechingly, hating the situation in which she found herself. Much to her surprise, he nodded, if a little unwillingly. She beamed. He rolled his eyes sardonically**.

**Grabbing her books, Hermione headed over to his table. She got right down to business. "So, do you want to go get the ingredients or brew the potion? I don't care either way, as long as it comes out right."**

**This shocked him a bit. Granger was known for being a perfectionist, and this was oddly out of character. Not that he cared. "I'll get the ingredients." He procured the necessary** **items listed on the board and brought them back to the table wordlessly. **

**Similarly quiet, Hermione began the potion, chopping Mandrake roots and extracting juice from the Valerian berries. Once the potion was started and needed no further tending, she produced a small book from her bag and began reading. The cover pronounced it to be titled "The Da Vinci Code". A few page-turns later, the cauldron began to bubble furiously, causing her to put the book down and go check on it. **

**While she was occupied with the Formula, Malfoy picked up the book and read the back cover and prologue. It seemed mildly entertaining, so he read further. After he'd read a page or two, he was startled by a tap on the shoulder. Hermione, now sitting beside him, looked slightly puzzled.**

"**Interesting, Malfoy?" she asked dryly. **

**Startled, he replied, "Yes, actually," before he had a chance to think.**

**She laughed. "Honestly?" At his hesitant nod, she said, "You can borrow it, if you want. I've already read it about thirty times since I bought it last summer."**

"**You have too much time on your hands, Granger." **

"**Not really. I just like that book in particular."**

**He wavered a moment. "Er, how did you get this? It's a muggle book. They don't sell them in Diagon Alley."**

**She replied, "No, but they do sell them in _muggle _stores. You forget where I was born, raised, etc."**

"**Oh. That makes sense..." He was a little embarassed. **

**Finally, the potion was done brewing. Professor Snape said, " If you've done everything right, you potions should be done. CAREFULLY gather a flagon of it, and leave it on my desk. We will test it tomorrow. Be sure not to let any of it directly touch any part of your body or the results will be disastrous."**

**Hermione stood up and filled the container. Malfoy was still blissfully engrossed in her book. Therefore, it wasn't much of a surprise when Hermione, unaware of her partner's feet splayed across the floor in front of her, tripped and fell. The bottle lay broken on the floor, silvery liquid pooling on the ground. Malfoy, snapped out of his Dan Brown-induced reverie, instinctively reached down to help Hermione up. Somewhere in between the potion spilling and Malfoy reaching down, both of the students came into direct contact with the silver liquid. **

**Professor Snape was proved right. The results were disastrous. The entire class was forced to acknowledge this as they witnessed their classmates succumb to unconsciousness on the dungeon floor as the Future-Scrying Formula, via their pores and veins, entered their blood streams. **


	2. Author's Ultimatum

Okaaayy, people! I need to know if you like this or not! Flames are a-ok. REVIEW or I will take this OFFLINE! 


	3. Chapter 3

The Beneficial Future- Chapter Two (Finallllllyyyyyy...!)

Lost in Time...or _Are_ We?

While the students and teachers at Hogwarts were all in an uproar, the two students in question found themselves in a slightly less frantic, but definitely more confusing situation. Actually, to say that they were confused would be a gross understatement. Mainly because:

A.) They woke up in a house neither of them recognized,

B.) Upon looking out the window, they could discern only that they were in the UK, but no other knowledge was forthcoming, and

C.) They found themselves in pajamas, in the same bed, and with a little boy standing next to said piece of furniture.

"Holy Hell!" was Malfoy's tender sentiment at the sight of the little boy, the bedroom, etc.

"Where...are we?" Hermione asked, feeling uncomfortable with both her location in the house and so close to Malfoy. The little boy was _not_ helping.

"Mum? Dad?" he asked in a tiny voice.

Neither of them could respond. They were dumbstruck.

"Are you alright, Mum?" He looked expectantly at Hermione.

"D'you mean me?" she asked, part confused and part hoping that, for whatever reason, he wasn't.

"Yeah," he nodded feebly. "You seem...lost."

Before she could reply, Malfoy chimed in, in a gentle voice that didn't seem to belong to him . "Hey, could you give Mum and me a second?" In an undertone, he added, "She didn't sleep very well last night."

"Oh," the child nodded with a smile. He gave Hermione a quick one-armed hug and left the room, shutting the door behind him with a small _click_.

"What's going on?" they both demanded at the same time. They were silent for one very awkward moment, before realizing the position they were in, namely lying on the same bed. Upon recognizing this, they flew apart to opposite sides of the room like shrapnel.

Malfoy looked out the window again, pausing for a moment, brow furrowed. "I know where we are..." he said slowly.

"Care to let me in on the secret?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"Calm down. We are _going_ to figure out where we are and what's going on."

"Oh, _I_'m sorry," she said, sarcasm dripping from her words and freezing into piercing icicles. "I'm just a little confused, because, see, there is a little boy standing outside this room who-," her voice dropping to a shrill whisper, "who thinks I am his bloody mum! I am _sixteen years old._ I'd hazard a guess and say he's about four. Do you see where this is not working out in my mind!"

"Yes," he said in an agitated tone, "but Merlin's lacy panties, Granger! Now, do you want to know where we are or not?"

She sighed. "Mm-hmm..."

"We are at my house. Malfoy Manor. I've never been in this wing before, but I recognize the grounds. This is the top floor specifically exclusive to the current Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. What I _don't _know is why _we're _here. And who the kid is."

"Well..." the wheels in her brain were tuning rapidly. " Do you know where your family keeps the records and important documents?"

"Just across the hall, actually," he said. "Most important things _are_ up here, so they can be kept track of. But what do we need those for? I know my own date of birth, thank you."

As if she were explaining to a small child, Hermione said, "If we can find the family records, we can find out who the boy is, what relation he is to either of us, et cetera."

He nodded. "Makes sense."

"Yes, of course it does. But first, would you happen to know where I could find a calendar?"

Again he nodded and pointed to the far east wall of the room, where a small calendar was tacked up.

Hermione walked over and examined it. "Hmm..." she muttered. "It was October 13, 1995, as last I can remember. This calendar is dated for 2004." She also noted that all the days on the top page, November, were crossed off except for the 13th. "Somehow," she concluded, "we've been driven a exactly 9 years and a month into the future."

Malfoy's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water before murmuring, "Now it all makes sense! I remember now...we were in N.E.W.T. Potions. We brewed that Future-Scrying Formula, and I was reading your muggle book. I think it must've somehow gotten spilled or come in physical contact with the both of us."

"Yes!" she grinned. "I remember reading somewhere that if the Formula gets into your bloodstream, via consumption, inhalation, or absorption by the pores, the results can be unpredictable and possibly horrendous."

He groaned. "Oh yes. And this, Granger, is the very _definition_ of horrendous. Pardon me, but you aren't the most pleasant of company, much less the person I would want to father a child with!"

She laughed a bit, then sobered. "A.) I'll ignore that. For now. B.) Perhaps you've forgotten, but that child that we are most likely the parents of is sitting in the hallway. Waiting on us." She looked at him pointedly.

"Oh. Yeah. What're we going to do about that."

"Well, since we don't even know his name, much less anything else, I'd say we speak to him, tell him we're going to get something, then nip off to check the birth certificate."

"Good plan."

A few minutes later, the little boy having been sent to the kitchens to see if breakfast was forthcoming, they headed off to the file room. Malfoy led the way, but Hermione was the one to open the door. Or, at least, she tried to. The moment her hand touched the handle, she felt a painful, burning shock. "Ow!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"

Malfoy grimaced. "Sorry; I forgot. The important rooms in the house, like this, Father's study, and the dungeons are magically protected from-er, certain people."

She scowled. "Hmph. Your bloody family...Disgusting. No offence."

"Actually, I _do_ take offense. I happen to be of that disgusting family, in case you'd forgotten. I'm not proud of the way they are, but there is such a thing as loyalty." Malfoy's become suddenly fierce, eyes darkening, fists clenching.

"Sorry," she said sarcstically, "but in case you'd forgotten, they have a long history of service to Voldemort and muggle-hating. Need I remind you of _my_ family? I have to show loyalty to them."

Suddenly, his smirked. Very smoothly, he said, "Oh really? Now, the way it seems, you're a Malfoy too. Unless, of course, both your parents and mine consented to our having a child out of wedlock and ever-so-graciously offered to let us live in the Manor; rather than what I would expect them to do, which would be to either kick us both out or spring for a last minute shotgun wedding."

She laughed at that. "Oh yes. That is exactly how I would envision _my_ ideal future. You do realize that that is what this is supposed to be, don't you?"

"I hadn't thought of that. This...definitely isn't what I would've predicted. But the potion doesn't lie, does it?"

"No, I suppose not. But...I don't want to think about it at the moment. Let's just get those records, shall we?"

"Yeah..."

Malfoy opened the door, allowing her to enter first, and shut the door tightly behind them. "Everything's here. What is it that we're looking for again?"

"Birth certificate for Junior out there, marriage certificate, maybe pictures?"

"Oh, OK. Birth certificates are here," he pointed at a short, squat filing cabinet; "marriage certificates are here," he pointed at a taller, slimmmer cabinet, "and pictures would be here." he pointed, finally, at a stack of gilded leather photo albums almost as tall as the ceiling.

"Excellent," she remarked drily. "This should only take, oh, maybe THREE AND A HALF MILLION YEARS! Our son will been old and grown with children of his own by the time we find these!"

"Er...we could Accio them specifically."

She smacked her forehead. "How...did I not...think of that," she gasped.

(A.N.: I need a beta SO badly, so if you are/know of one, EMAIL ME!)


End file.
